Jr NTR and Anil Ravipudi team up for a ‘laugh riot’, rolling very soon

Jr NTR and Anil Ravipudi have teamed up for their first film together, and it will be a comedy. The actor and the director announced it on X on Saturday, 14 November, in posts that went up within a minute of each other. “This one’s going to be a laugh riot,” NTR wrote.

Ravipudi addressed his post to the actor. “Our combination has been long overdue,” he wrote, before adding: “Full-on entertainer coming up!” Then came a pun on the call heard on every film set: “Rolling very soon… No no, ROFL-ing very soon!” Ravipudi has not directed NTR before.

The project has no title yet, only the hashtag #NTRxAnilRavipudi. Neither post names a heroine, the rest of the cast, the technicians, a start date or a release date. Both tag Nandamuri Kalyan Ram, NTR’s elder half-brother, and NTR Arts, the banner Kalyan Ram runs, but neither says who will produce the film.

Back where Ravipudi began

The tags take Ravipudi back to his first film. Pataas, his debut as director, starred Kalyan Ram, who produced it under NTR Arts; it opened on 23 January 2015. The banner carries the name of the brothers’ grandfather, N. T. Rama Rao, and was also behind NTR’s Jai Lava Kusa (2017) and Devara: Part 1 (2024).

Ravipudi has directed eight films since, among them F2 (2019), Sarileru Neekevvaru (2020) and Bhagavanth Kesari (2023), which was named the best Telugu film at the 71st National Film Awards. His last two were Sankranti releases: Sankranthiki Vasthunam with Venkatesh in January 2025 and Mana Shankara Vara Prasad Garu with Chiranjeevi in January 2026.

Two films already in the works

Ravipudi is now making January 12 Vidudala, with Venkatesh and Kalyan Ram in the lead roles. Its producer, Shine Screens, has announced it as a Sankranti 2027 release.

NTR was last seen in War 2, his first Hindi film, in which he starred with Hrithik Roshan. It opened on 14 August 2025. NTR Arts is also co-producing Prashanth Neel’s Dragon, in which NTR plays the lead. When the banner put out the film’s glimpse in May, it said Dragon was slated for release on 11 June 2027.